


the last of the real ones

by vivalabandoms



Category: 9-1-1 (TV)
Genre: Canon Divergence, Eddie POV, Getting Together, Idiots in Love, M/M, and shannon is alive, bad at tagging my bad, based on the song by fall out boy, in this universe there is no lawsuit arc, no beta we die like shannon, some angst some comfort, they get together in the end, who shouldn't have died btw
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-23
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-15 18:28:01
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 3,544
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28942947
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vivalabandoms/pseuds/vivalabandoms
Summary: i know this whole damn city thinks it needs youbut not as much as i do-songfic based on last of the real ones by fall out boy!
Relationships: Evan "Buck" Buckley/Eddie Diaz (9-1-1 TV)
Comments: 7
Kudos: 142





	the last of the real ones

**Author's Note:**

  * For [from_nova](https://archiveofourown.org/users/from_nova/gifts).



> Found a post from from-nova on tumblr who had pointed out how much of a buddie song this is, and I hadn’t realised until listening to it again. so here we are. i don't think a fic has flowed this freely out of me before.
> 
> title/lyrics/everything from the last of the real ones by fall out boy.
> 
> ALSO this is set in a world where the lawsuit never happened bc i hate it and shannon is alive and gay bc i love her and she deserves better <3 thank u pls enjoy the fic.

* * *

i.

**_I was just an only child of the universe_ **

Eddie’s always known he was loved, and that’s mostly because he was. He was loved by his parents, his sisters, the rest of his big family. Then he was loved by Shannon, and later Christopher. He doesn’t count his time in service, though. The bonds formed there didn’t feel the same. So yes, he was loved. He _knew_ he was loved. 

There were always times when he doubted it. Like when his parents tried to take Christopher away from him and when Shannon left. Still, he understood that those actions were borne out of love, so how could he feel angry about it? He would’ve done the same, probably. To sum it up: Eddie Diaz is loved, full stop. 

But despite knowing all that, he still used to feel isolated. He was never alone - almost always surrounded by people who talked to him and needed him for things - but he pretty much always felt lonely. 

He was convinced it would never change. That he’d never find what he’s looking for and that he was destined to spend eternity feeling apart from everything: his feelings, other people, his feelings for other people... take today, for instance. It’s his thirty-third birthday, and he’s spending it by himself. Chris is off at summer camp, and his aunt and grandmother are on a cruise. Eddie from four years ago would’ve expected nothing less than to see his future self sprawled on the couch in an empty apartment eating baby carrots by himself in front of the TV.

**_And then I found you_ **

On the flip side though, Eddie from four years ago never would’ve expected a tall blonde man to nearly break his door down before marching into the living room with a large bag and a case of beer. He never would’ve expected this man to reprimand him for spending his thirty-third birthday alone because _y_ _ou only turn thirty-three once, Eddie,_ and he certainly never would’ve imagined he'd have a key to Eddie’s house and know Christopher’s schedule by heart. If he didn’t know any better, he’d think they were dating.

Except he does know better because he and Buck are definitely _not_ together. They were just best friends. And Buck had decided that as Eddie’s best friend, he in good conscience couldn’t let him spend his birthday alone. So that’s how he finds himself eating pad thai on the couch while Buck explains something about frogs he’d learned the night before. 

Everyday Eddie thanks god that he decided to move to LA and join the 118. Not only did that give him a stable home for Chris and his new family, but it also gave him Buck. Eddie genuinely doesn’t know where he’d be without him, and he doesn’t want to imagine either.

ii.

**_You are the sun and I am just the planets_ **

Eddie watches him from across the firehouse’s loft. He and Hen have been glued to their controllers since the start of their shift, and they were deeply engrossed in whatever they were playing. He chuckles as Buck whoops and punches the air. The screen explodes with confetti as Hen tosses the controller aside and walks off. Buck yells after her to play again amidst fits of laughter. Eddie likes the way Buck’s laugh looks on him. Those crinkles near his eyes only deepen when he’s laughing from his gut. Eddie wants to see him that happy forever. 

**_Spinning around you_ **

He’s pulled from his thoughts by Buck whistling. He shouts for him to go for a round with him and Eddie considers declining for a split second. He doesn’t though, he just walks over and promises to pulverise him. For some reason, Eddie’s found that he has a tough time saying no to him.

iii.

**_You were too good to be true, gold plated_ **

When Buck and Eddie first met, there was a tension in the air, but it dissipated right after the call with the live round. As Eddie got to know his new counterpart more and more over the days, he was intrigued. Buck was the definition of a dumb smart person. He was incredibly skilled in the field but also needed _Inception’s_ plot to be explained to him four times. As the youngest of the group Eddie also saw him getting babied by nearly everyone. Buck took it all with a smile, though. Eddie respected him for that, but he also couldn’t help but wonder if he was putting on a facade sometimes.

It’s when they’re sitting in Buck’s loft in front of the TV again that Buck cracks and Eddie’s doubts clear up.

**_But what's inside you?_ **

It’s a nature show that sets him off, which Eddie doesn’t fully understand at first. Buck immediately gets up and apologises as he wipes the tears away, says he didn’t mean to and that he should leave, but Eddie finds himself pulling him down and saying that that’s stupid because they’re in his apartment, idiot. Instead, Eddie makes them both some coffee, and Buck tugs at his sweater uncomfortably as he spills. And somewhere between the mother bird flying away without her young ones and her getting struck down by an eagle never to see her babies again, it all clicks. _I thought Maddie was going to leave me again._ She was kidnapped, Buck. _She still would’ve left._

Eddie lets him vent for a while. Buck is obviously not used to people listening to him, and his heart aches. By the end of it, he looks marginally better, but Eddie still recommends therapy. Lord knows he wouldn’t be able to provide him with the support he needs. His friend nods and says he’ll consider it, but they both know what’s left unspoken: _I can do this myself._ Eddie makes a note to pressure him about it later.

The night ends when Abuela calls to let him know that Chris isn’t feeling well. Buck offers to drive him home, but he declines. He leaves the loft feeling like he’s finally seen Evan Buckley. And for some reason, that makes his heart beat a little faster.

iv. 

**_I know this whole damn city thinks it needs you_ **

The house is going up in flames and Buck is missing. 

A child had managed to wrestle free from the paramedics and ran back into the blaze for his cat right as the front door collapsed. By that point, everyone else had already been removed, but the boy refused to leave without his Hippo. So he ran in, and before Bobby could say anything Buck was off after him.

Eddie’s mad. He wants to run in after them, but he knows Bobby will just hold him back. Besides, he actually has common sense. He’s still on alert and keeping his eyes and ears out for any signal that Buck is making it back.

The firefighters hosing down the house say they can’t see Buck anywhere. The fires are still going intensely, hot and angry like they’re meting out punishments of an unbearable degree. Eddie turns to tell Bobby he’s going in when an explosion sounds from inside and the roof caves in.

And Eddie's heart stops.

The blast wasn’t fatal, but it was enough to send Eddie to his knees. His ears ring as he gets back up on his feet, tender and coughing. The tears spring to his eyes as he screams. He can’t hear anything except the silence from his teammates. He can’t see anything except smoke and debris, and a fire whose flames lick the sky almost like they’re taunting Eddie. He can’t feel anything except the raw pain in his throat as he runs towards the house, ready to dig through all the debris until he finds him. But Bobby holds him back, says he won’t lose another firefighter today. All Eddie can do is squeeze his eyes and pray. There’s no way he’s believing that Buck didn’t make it until he has proof. 

Two minutes pass. Then five. Then ten.

They find a body.

**_But not as much as I do_ **

But it’s not Buck. He knows this because he sees Buck hobbling from behind the building, cradling the boy in his oxygen mask who in turn was cradling a fluffy cat with only one ear. He’s got leaves and twigs in his hair, and he’s limping.

Eddie nearly collapses again. He runs with Hen and Chimney to him. Chimney takes the boy and hands the cat to Eddie while Hen checks Buck over. "He’s got a concussion, smoke inhalation and possible broken ribs, let’s get him out of here."

The cat gets handed back to the boy as they load Buck onto a backboard and into the ambulance. Eddie rides along in the back. Buck instinctively grabs his hand as Chimney puts him in an O2 mask. Eddie just holds him and doesn’t let go.

Eddie isn’t by Buck’s side once they reach the hospital. He gives himself time to cool off because once he manages to cope with the fact that Buck isn’t dead, that he's alive and clutching his fingers and will be okay soon, he’s pissed as hell. As soon as Bobby leaves the room Eddie walks in and sits by the bed. Hey, he says, you fucking donkey. What the hell is wrong with you? _C’mon Eds, Bobby just laid into me. Do we have to do this now?_ I really think we do, Buck. _I’m sorry, okay?_ That’s all you have to say for yourself? _I couldn’t let the kid die!_ But you were okay with you dying? _Eddie, it doesn’t matter if I…_

Eddie can feel his eyes go black as Buck falters. Finish your sentence, Buck, he whispers. He waits for him to go on, but Buck sits still. 

You really think it doesn’t matter if you live or die? _I didn’t mean that. I just meant-_ You meant the ends justify the means, even if the means are you dying foolishly. _I was doing my job, Eddie!_ No, you weren’t thinking. You could’ve died in there Buck. This job is already so fucking risky, why do you make it so much harder on all of us? _I followed my gut and saved two lives. I don’t get why you’re so mad-_

I could’ve lost you, Eddie finally explodes, completely shutting Buck up. I could’ve lost you and you don’t care. What would I have told Chris? What would I have done if your decision to be stupid and impulsive killed you? How would I have been supposed to live with myself knowing that my partner died and I couldn’t save him?

He doesn’t wait for an explanation. Theoretically, he knows he should but he can feel people staring and he decides he can’t handle that right now. He storms out without letting Buck say another word.

**_'Cause you're the last of a dying breed_ **

Eddie doesn’t see Buck for three weeks after that fire. Between his rest period and alternating shifts once he’s back to work, they effectively avoid each other. He still let Shannon take Chris to see him - just because he was upset with Buck didn’t mean that Chris had to be devoid of his second favourite person. 

Shannon would come back and relay that Buck is miserable and just wants to talk but Eddie knows he doesn’t want to hear it. He tells Shannon the same and she just sighs like she doesn’t have the energy to talk him out of it.

Buck comes over on a day he knows that Shannon and Chris are out. Eddie’s almost impressed that he remembers but realises immediately that Shannon would’ve told him.

Buck starts talking before Eddie can even open his mouth. _Eddie, I am so ,so sorry. I didn’t know you felt that way. I was doing what I thought I needed to do. I need you to know that I never meant to make you worry or hurt you._

Lot of ‘I’s in there, Buck. _I know. But you gotta know that I feel like shit. What can I do to make it up to you?_

Eddie’s mind goes places but he pushes those thoughts down. Instead, he says, I forgive you. Just don’t do it again. 

Buck breaks into a grin. _I’ll do my best._ Eddie pulls him into a hug as they chuckle. He ignores that his heart has tripled its pace again.

v.

**_Write our names in the wet concrete_ **

_I still don’t understand why Chris needs these_ , Buck says as he shifts the bag he’s carrying to his other arm. Eddie shrugs and shoulders his cloth bag. It’s filled to the brim with wooden alphabets they picked up at the dollar store, where they spent an hour doing their best to avoid other people and shop as safely as possible. They were currently on their way back to Eddie’s house.

He said he wants to give his classmates something to show them he missed them, Eddie says as he adjusts his mask. I don’t mind it. It’s keeping him busy. Buck nods. _That part I get. I don’t know what to do with myself on my days off. Thanks for inviting me to this, by the way. It’s nice to get out of the house for a bit._

Eddie laughs. You’re always welcome to tag along, he says. Chris is gonna be so excited to see you. Buck looks down, his ears red. _I know, I’ve missed the kid too._

Eddie loves that Buck and Chris get along so well. He’s almost like a third parent in some scenarios, which Shannon doesn’t always enjoy but she keeps her objections to herself.

Buck is in the middle of talking about the statistics for a dog show when Eddie realises they haven’t been watching where they’re walking and are about to plant their feet right in wet concrete.

Eddie tries shoving Buck out of the way but he miscalculates the amount of force he needs and ends up pushing too hard. Buck yelps and instinctively curls his fingers around Eddie’s forearms and pulls. Eddie frantically pulls Buck closer so that he doesn’t do a full bodyslam backwards into the concrete. The bag slips off Buck and lands on the sidewalk with a resounding _shplop_. They don’t notice though, because they’ve unintentionally manoeuvred themselves into a dip. Eddie blinks. When did his hand find the small of Buck’s back? And why are they still in this position? He kind of doesn’t want to move.

He finds Buck’s blue eyes peering right at his and his breath catches in his throat. It’s so hard to tell what he’s thinking while he’s in a mask. It doesn’t occur to him until much later that Buck never tried breaking free quickly either.

 _Uh,_ Buck says, _the bag’s in the cement._ Eddie nods. So it is, he replies. He looks down at it and feels his face heat up. It’s like the universe was laughing at him. Why else would the only letters that spilt out of the bag be B, X, and E? The X isn’t even the right way up. It looks like a plus sign. Eddie sends up a silent prayer criticism. It’s just too on the nose.

 _We should, uh, probably clean that up?_ Buck whispers. Eddie snaps back to reality and nods furiously, letting his best friend go. They reach down to the pick up the letters, and Buck lets out a stifled laugh. What’s funny? _Nothing. Let’s go get these cleaned off._

**_I wonder if your therapist knows everything about me_ **

Eddie admits that listening to Chim bug Buck about his so-called ‘COVID crush’ is getting on his nerves. Why can’t he just leave him alone? It’s a whole morning of no calls and Chimney following Buck around to get any sort of tidbits about them that puts Eddie in a sour mood for the rest of the day.

Buck finds Eddie right before lunch and says he needs to talk to him. Unfortunately, the city of LA decides to drop a medical emergency in their laps and it has to wait till later. It’s the most agonising three hours of Eddie’s life.

Turns out that his COVID crush is a therapist. Eddie’s face passes through more than one emotion. One is happiness because Buck is finally getting the help he deserves. The other worryingly overwhelming one is relief because this means Buck isn’t seeing anyone. The realisation of that hits Eddie like a ton of bricks. But he stomachs it and gives Buck a gentle smile. He tells him he’s happy for him and he hopes it’s working. Buck says he thinks so.

Eddie gets home and calls Shannon. He can’t talk to anyone at the 118 about what he’s realised. So, to his lesbian ex-wife he goes, and after two hours of heart to heart conversation and many glasses of wine, he comes to the conclusion that he’s in love with Buck. God help him.

Shannon has to put Chris to sleep at one point and orders Eddie to do the same. As he settles in bed with a pounding head, he can’t help but wonder if Buck’s had a similar conversation with his therapist.

**_I'm here in search of your glory_ **

It’s 3 AM and Eddie can’t sleep. He doesn’t have a shift tomorrow, which means he won’t see Buck for three days at least. Eddie decides that simply won’t do and gets out of bed. His head isn’t fully clear as he locks the door and hops into his car, but he doesn’t care. He can’t tell if it’s the alcohol or the adrenaline that’s fuelling him but right now all he can think of are Buck’s lips. He lets himself wonder what they feel like, what they taste of, and before he knows it he’s in front of Buck’s apartment.

He starts wondering if this is a good idea when he’s in the elevator. Then he’s got his knuckles making sound on Buck’s door and he realises he’s got no choice now. The door swings open to reveal Buck in his pyjamas, his hair mussed and eyes tired. They perk up at the sight of him. _Eddie? Wha- it’s 3 in the morning… are you okay? Is Chris okay?_

Eddie rocks nervously on the balls of his feet. Can I come in? Buck nods and opens the door further. _What’s going on? Is everything okay?_

No, Eddie says, but it’s not what you think. Apparently I’m in love with you, Buck. Surprise! It sure as hell was for me too. 

Eddie massages his jaw and continues. But what can you do, right? The heart wants what it wants, and for some reason it wants you. Actually, scratch that, I know exactly why it wants you. You’re the bravest, kindest, most amazing person I’ve ever known. Chris loves you. You’re perfect. And I know this is a weird, awkward time for me to be coming over and confessing. It’s just that I found out a few hours ago and the first thing I wanted to do was tell you. Crazy, right?

**_There's been a million before me_ **

I’m not sure what I need to happen here, Buck. I know I’m not your usual type and not what you might be looking for, but I’d hate myself more forever if I didn’t say anything. 

**_That ultra-kind of love you never walk away from_ **

I can’t just let you exist in my life without getting an answer from you. It’d hurt too much. Tell me if I’m crossing a line here and I’ll leave you alone forever. But honestly, Buck? I think you feel the same way. Unless I’ve totally misread the situation. In that case, as I said, I’ll leave you alone. I just need you to say something.

**_You’re just the last of the real ones_ **

Buck watches him intently. Eddie can tell he looks crazed and desperate but he doesn’t care. _Are you done?_ Buck asks, moving closer. Eddie swallows the lump in his throat and nods. _Good. I’m going to kiss you now, okay?_ Eddie nods vigorously as Buck pulls him towards him. 

He lets his arms find Buck’s hair as Buck presses their waists together. It’s everything he thought it would be and more. He tastes like warmth and mint somehow. A soft whine escapes his lips as Buck pulls away. Buck still has his hands planted firmly on Eddie’s sides.

_I love you too, moron._

“Fucking finally!” Chimney says, nearly giving Eddie a heart attack as he pops up from the couch. “Congrats, hurrah, mazel tov. Now can you _please_ go to bed so that I can get some sleep for my shift?”

Eddie goes red as Buck throws his sock at Chimney.

I should head home, Eddie starts, but Buck grabs his hand and intertwines their fingers. 

_Chris is at Shannon’s, isn’t he? You should spend the night. Nothing serious… I just think I’ll sleep better with you next to me._ Eddie nearly melts. They really don’t make them like him anymore. Sure, he smiles. 

After all, he has a hard time saying no to him.

**Author's Note:**

> i hope u liked it! 
> 
> as always, if you like something say something :) comments and kudos keep us writers going <3
> 
> my tumblr is open for asks and yelling about things: newsies-of-new-yawk


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